The Texas State softball team competed in the Capital Classic over the weekend, winning three games and losing two in Sacramento and Davis, California.
The Bobcats improve their record to 12-7 overall with one game left to go before conference play.
although Head Softball Coach Ricci Woodard was disappointed in some of the losses, she said she was proud of how the team performed through the adversity.
“It didn’t go as well as we would’ve liked to obviously, but it also could’ve gone worse,” Woodard said. “I like doing this road trip to put them through a little bit of adversity and see how they handle it.”
For many of these players, the tournament was the first time they experienced playing in California. Woodard said the West Coast experience was beneficial to the team because of the distance and different environment.
“It’s a four hour plane ride and a two hour time difference, so it’s always interesting to see how we were going to respond” Woodard said. “It could’ve gone worse and could’ve gone better, and it kind of told us where we’re at and what we need to continue to work on.”
SUNDAY
Texas State 5, St. Mary’s 2
Freshman third baseman Sara Vanderford’s fourth-inning home run helped put the Bobcats over St. Mary’s Gaels in a 5-2 win on Sunday. With a St. Mary’s RBI double in the top of the fourth inning that scored two runs, the Gaels cut the lead down to 3-2. Vanderford’s home run put a stop to any Gaels comeback as the Bobcats buckled down for the 5-2 win.
Junior Meagan King took her fourth win of the season, allowing two runs on six hits and throwing two strikeouts. Freshman Tori McCann recorded her fourth save on the season allowing no runs on one hit with two strikeouts.
UC Davis 4, Texas State 2
A four-run inning by the UC Davis Aggies was too much to overcome for Texas State as the Bobcats lost 4-2 in the final game of the tournament. Junior Texas A&M transfer Kylie George put together a great performance at the plate, going 2-3 at the plate with one RBI.
Senior Dalilah Barrera took the loss for the game, allowing three runs on five hits.
SATURDAY
Utah State 4, Texas State 2
A three-run inning in the bottom of the third was enough to push the Aggies over the Bobcats in a 4-2 loss for Texas State. The Bobcats’ offensive attack struggled to bring in their runners home as Texas State left seven potential runs on base.
Woodard said the ‘Cats’ poor hitting performance ultimately led to the loss.
“Well obviously Saturday morning we just didn’t swing the bats very well at all,” Woodard said. “Then we made a couple of mistakes to give them a couple of runs early in the game (and) we just couldn’t bounce back from it. We didn’t hit a couple of spots and they capitalized on it.”
The defense struggled as well, allowing the Aggies to score two runs on a wild pitch and one error. King took the loss on the mound, allowing one run on four hits with three strikeouts.
Texas State 6, UC Davis 2
A five-run outburst in the first inning put Texas State over the top in the 6-2 win over UC Davis Aggies.
Back-to-back doubles by junior infielder ArieAnn Bell and Vanderford combined for four RBIs between the two to cap the five-run first inning.
Barrera put together another great pitching performance for her fourth win on two hits, one run and five strikeouts, while McCann received her third save of the season.
FRIDAY
Texas State 2, Sacramento State 0
McCann threw a complete game shutout as Texas State defeated Sacramento State 2-0 to kick off the tournament. McCann allowed zero runs on five hits with three strikeouts to improve her overall record to 4-3.
With the game tying 0-0 in the top of the sixth inning, Tara Oltmann broke the deadlock with a right field single, scoring both senior infielder Bailee Carter and junior outfielder Marisa Cruz to ultimately score the only runs in the game.
PREVIEW
By the time conference play begins on Friday, Texas State will have played in four different tournaments featuring five teams ranked in the Top 25.
Woodard said the tough competition helped the team see where they were before conference play.
“Really it’s just kind of the parody of our sport, to try to get out there and see where we match up against other teams,” Woodard said. “At the end of the season it comes down to a number of wins and losses against other teams across the country and so sometimes it’s good to get out there and see where you are.”
Woodard said she is proud of what the team has accomplished prior to playing in the Sun Belt.
“I think we’ve done a pretty good job,” Woodard said. “We played a pretty tough February and I’m pretty proud of where we finished. I would have liked to have seen a couple more wins there, but probably any coach would say that. I think we did a pretty good job with the tough schedule.”
Texas State hosts Texas A&M Corpus Christi at 5 p.m. on Wednesday before starting conference on the road against Georgia State in a three-game weekend series.